Scott feared nine-in-arow as Celts followed Foxes’ Saints slaughter
Scott McKenna feared he could be heading for an unwanted place in the record books the last time Celtic visited Pittodrie.
After 45 minutes of the league clash at the end of October, Aberdeen trailed Neil Lennon’s men 4-0 and were, to steal an old line, flattered by the nil.
With McKenna and his fellow defenders unable to lay a glove on their opponents, the 23-year-old worried the score could end up rivalling the 9-0 thrashing inflicted on Southampton by Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City less than 48 hours earlier.
It was Saints’ biggest-ever defeat and the scoreline matched Aberdeen’s worst result – the 9-0 loss to Celtic in Glasgow in 2010 under Mark McGhee.
“I had watched the Leicester win at home on the Friday night and, I am not going to lie, thinking back to it was the worst part about sitting there at half-time,” said McKenna, as he looked ahead to the visit of the Premiership leaders this afternoon.
“We were 4-0 down to Celtic, we couldn’t do anything to stop them and it was hard not to think the worst.
“Everything went wrong that day.
“We let them do whatever they wanted. We were far too passive in the game and didn’t show enough aggression, or intent to get on the ball and look after it.
“Thankfully, they maybe took their feet off the gas a wee bit, and it was damagelimitation for us as no more goals were scored.
“Since then we have been down to Parkhead and put on a pretty-decent performance, albeit we didn’t pick up the points.
“But yes, we have a point to prove against Celtic after the last time they came to Pittodrie.”
A 3-1 away win at Hamilton on Tuesday saw the Dons end a wretched run that had seen them go into the game without a goal from open play in 454 minutes.
“It had been a long time since we scored,” said the defender.
“The manager has said time and again that there has not been too much wrong with the performances.
“It’s just that we have not had that cutting edge needed to pick up points.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks. But I thought we basically won the game at Hamilton in the first half and, once we got the first goal, we really looked like a team that was enjoying its football.
“It lifts everyone – look at Curtis Main’s finish. It must have been hard for him coming into the team with so few minutes.
“It was a difficult chance but he made it look simple.
“That got us off to the start we wanted and we kicked on from there.
“The win gives us a bit of confidence and we want to try to score some more goals and remain solid at the back.”
With Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffths in prolific form, defensive focus is liable to be essential if Aberdeen – who held Rangers to a draw at Ibrox at the start of the month – are to take anything from the game.
“It only takes one person to be off it, or out of position against Celtic and they will punish you,” said McKenna.
“Edouard just floats about. You are not always aware of him doing much but then – bang! One moment of quality and he is away and has punished you.
“So it’s about trying to stay on your toes and switched on, because they have that quality right through the team. It is not just Edouard.
“Leigh Griffiths is a proven goal scorer. When he is in the team, he always scores. We just need to keep our wits about us. It is brilliant for Scotland that he is back and knocking on the door.
“Steve Clarke will be delighted to see him scoring, so it’s a positive for the country.”
Closer to home, McKenna was pleased to hear the Dons support – which had been showing signs of frustration over the course of the long goalless run – chant Derek McInnes’s name at Hamilton.
“It was good to hear that. You never want to hear the negative chants from the crowd,” said McKenna. “It’s brilliant what the manager has done for the club over the last seven years.
“I don’t think people should forget about that too quickly. It was good for us to get a result for him down at Hamilton, especially with the goals we scored.
“Now we have to kick on against Celtic.”